Talk:Metalborg, Black Doctor/@comment-15828053-20140510234710/@comment-24699797-20140511155701
I did explain it, but perhaps I just didn't highlight it the right way: it's the fact its designed from the ground up to be a keystone in that sub-clan. While it would enable some powerful plays in other sub-clans, its a question of whether that lets them do a little too much, since they weren't designed from scratch with a Carvingraizer clone enabling plays in mind. If it so happens that there is an underpowered or poorly tuned sub-clan in which a Carvingraizer clone enables plays that makes the sub-clan viable, I would not disagree with it. However, simply adding it without the necessity to enable plays to ''create viability ''would likely push that sub-clan above the balance curve in an area its not supposed to be overtuned in. Simply giving everyone a Carvingrazier clone would just increase everyone's power levels and invalidate the Grade 2 8000 Power part of the game's framework, as those more powerful effects would then be available while hitting the proper numbers. In essence, Carvingraizer in Raizers is a mini-game. You position it where it will combo, and the combos have been designed and implemented from the very start. This is most obvious with Dual Flare. The two states of the mini-game are as follows: you have Carvingraizer in the correct place, so you can combo the two skills to create correct numbers; you do not have Carvingraizer in place, so you can execute the individual skill, but for sub-optimal numbers. If you have Carvingraizer in your starting hand, and need it to make columns for early aggression, do you put it in the rear-guard and hope it scales into a Dual Flare skill use, which requires Legion to be performed and for you to actually draw into Dual Flare; or do you put it behind the Vanguard in preparation for Legion? What if you happen to run Perfect Raizer as a backup boss, and you don't know if you will be required to ride it? Do you go aggressive early and risk getting a copy of a key card stuck in the soul for the remainder of the game? Based on your knowledge of your opponent's available cards to guard with and your remaining Triggers, if you have one Carvingraizer, but you have just Legioned Mega Flare, you have a Cat Butler and you have a rear-guard Dual Flare, do you choose to use Carvingraizer to boost Dual Flare, letting it restand with 16000, or do you boost your Legion, letting it restand with 24000? If the opponent is likely to No Guard a first attack with no pressure from skills, do you even boost Dual Flare with Carvingrazier, since it's at 11000, or do you wait to keep the boost for the second swing, especially in case you get a Trigger. There are bonuses, such as 9000 attacker plus Stand Trigger synergy, but these are bonuses, not the focus. Adding a Carvingraizer clone to a sub-clan purely for the bonuses is simply power without any additional gameplay, which is poor game design; this should only be done if you really need to put power somewhere, and it cannot be done in a way that actually makes the player think about it or work for it. A comparison would be Stealth Fiend, Kurama Lord. Kurama Lord is a clone of Mr. Invincible. You might think, "Why would Murakumo possibly need Invincible's Mega Blast?" The answer is, it doesn't, but the focus is elsewhere, on the damage unflipping. Murakumo Counter Blast all the time for their cloning skills, which in turn have the purpose of conserving the hand, slightly increasing the probability of hitting Triggers, and is the cornerstone of their defensive playstyle. The unflipping lets them do this more, and as such, becomes part of Murakumo's hand management mini-game. This is an example of the proper implementation of a skill, and I'd almost argue that it's a better implementation than original, because Invincible's mini-game is entirely focussed on his Mega Blast and maintaining skill output using Counter Blast-heavy rear-guards, which is less involved and requires less thought from the player than Kurama Lord's mini-game. A Carvingraizer clone implemented haphazardly would be missing these type of mini-games outside of things which any clan could use, such as 9000 attacks plus Stand Triggers, or early 20000 columns, and those should only be made available in such a boring fashion if the deck is doing what its supposed to be doing, but is underperforming significantly regardless.